Turning
by Jixie
Summary: After the show is over, Angel says farewell to the supporting cast.


**Turning**  
Fanfic by Jixie 12/2005  
The BIG-O © SUNRISE INC

* * *

She said goodbye to her father first.

In a way, it was the hardest. There was so much left unsaid. He knew so  
many things which she did not understand, and she understood so many things  
that he did not know. She wanted to share it with him, to learn what he had  
in his mind, and have the chance to grow close to and love her father.

It was too late for that. She had no choice but to say her farewell and  
move on.

* * *

The rain had stopped, leaving Paradigm city dank and mucky. Soaked to the  
bone-- she wondered if the water could really go that deep.

It was a little trouble tracking down the law enforcer, but she eventually  
found him. A little bar & lounge called Amadeus, down a dark stairwell  
where the wet leaves and litter collected. It was surprisingly classy  
inside, not at all like the hole-in-the-wall its stairs hinted at.

Dan Dastun was lost in his thoughts when she approached. She took a seat at  
the bar next to him, and listened to the soft piano music while she waited.  
When he started to come out of his reverie, he noticed the pretty blonde  
besides him.

"Hey, uh..."

It actually took him a moment to recognize her. Stunned, he stumbled over  
his words before they finally came out right.

"_Angel?_"

She smiled politely and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Mr.  
Dastun. I hope you don't mind--"

"Oh, no! No, no it's okay. Er, I mean... you can call me Dan."

"Of course, Dan. I won't take too much of your time. I just wanted to give  
you something."

"Hmm?"

Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out her pistol. Vera had given it to  
her when she'd joined the Union, back before then. Dastun had given it to  
her when she'd failed to use it, back before... and then...

"To keep some of your sanity," she started, holding the pistol by the  
barrel and offering it handle-first to Dastun. "Someone once told me that  
sometimes we need these to prove to ourselves that we are who we are. It's  
almost sad really, but it may be the best that we have right now. All we  
can do is accept it... and protect others."

He looked at the gun of for a while, digesting Angels words. For a moment  
he looked as if he was going to ask her something, but then decided against  
it. Angel was relieved-- she had very few answers to offer for the  
questions he might ask. Finally he reached over and accepted the 'gift',  
quickly tucking it away into his oversized coat. They received only mild  
questioning glance from the barkeep.

"Thanks," Dastun said. Angel slid off the stool and placed a hand on his  
shoulder.

"Goodbye, Dan. It's time for you to find your own role. I wish you the best  
of luck." She turned and headed for the door, stopping when he called out  
to her.

"Wait, Angel. What's it all mean?"

Glancing over her shoulder at the former Colonel, she offered him another  
smile. "That's for you to decide."

* * *

Seebach was waiting for her.

Quickly heading up the stairs from the Amadeus, Angel did a double-take at  
the man standing by her car. She didn't recognize him right away. It had  
been a while since she'd last seen him the way he used to be. The moment he  
started talking however, she knew exactly who it was.

"Ah, to be graced with the presence of an angel, sent from the heavens to  
guide us mortals towards the truth and the light. Or is it really that she  
is a fallen angel, and we are but lost souls meandering around the infinite  
depths of hell, where there is no light nor truth to be spoken of? If the  
truth is but a fali--"

"Goodbye, Schwarzwald." Angel brushed past him and headed for her car. She  
had no time for this.

"Oh ho! The phantasm known as Schwarzwald is but a mere figment of  
imagination, which is, in reality... wait." He cut her off and gestured  
towards the passenger side. Somewhat hesitantly, she allowed him to lead  
her and open the door for her. "I have much to discuss with you. If you  
insist on leaving with such haste, it give me but no choice than to  
chauffeur you to your intended destination."

She gave him a blank look. "I have to go to the Paradigm Headquaters."

"Then so be it. Who am I to meddle in the affairs of gods, no, those of a  
goddess who decides the very fate of this play in which we are supposedly  
puppets and actors performing a scripted drama?" He walked around to the  
other side of the car and climbed into the drivers side. If driving around  
in a bright pink convertible bothered Michael Seebach any, it didn't show.  
Within moments he was chattering away.

Angel leaned her head against the window and let him ramble for a while.

"...and that it was, Big Duo, guiding me to the one place which had  
previously been neglected in my ever unrelenting search to find the reality  
of our existence." He paused, as if uncertain on how to continue. This  
surprised Angel, it seemed that Seebach _never_ ran out of words. She  
enjoyed the momentary quiet. "I would like to inquire if I have actually   
uncovered the truth."

How could she give that a satisfying answer?

"The truth is what you make it."

"Ah, so cryptic. _Gordon Rosewater_ would be proud. Then perhaps you would  
be willing to inform me on why we have lost our memories before, only to  
regain them now? How few of them we have actually found, and yet they are  
lacking any substance or reason."

She stared out the window. "Sometimes, Seebach, people are so frightened of  
what they know... that they choose to forget it. Only once they've  
forgotten, they are more frightened by what the _might_ have known than  
what they actually knew in the first place."

He chuckled, a low, grating cackle that scratched at her nerves. "Then it  
is as it has always been, inside of the captive prisons of our own limited  
finite and uncomprehending minds, the minds of the weak and unmotivated  
masses which exist in this very city. What is your role, angel from the  
heavens who manipulates our reality?"

"I'm Angel," she said simply.

"Then you deny changing things? Have you merely set back the clock?"

They were at the Headquarters. She thought he would park at the garage, but  
instead he headed for the underpass to let her out. Angel pursed her lips  
and waited for him to stop besides the curb.

She didn't answer him before she left the car.

* * *

The receptionist wasted no time ushering her into the master suite atop  
Paradigm Corps. Headquarters. Apparently they'd been expecting her.

"I was hoping you'd learned some humility, Mr. Rosewater."

Alex studied her for a long time before replying. "Maybe. You know, Fau..."

"I know what Fau did. It was about time someone gave you a taste of your  
own medicine."

With a slightly pained look on his face, Alex folded his hands in his lap  
and nodded. "I deserved that," he agreed. "What I don't understand is why  
you've given this all back to me."

Angel smiled at her brother. "How can I give something back if it was never  
taken away?"

"... there are many who feel that I am unfit to govern."

"So? You abandoned your responsibilities for a while. It was a learning  
experience. Before one can rule over a city or a nation, one must be able  
to rule themselves. Now that you understand your own weaknesses, you're  
more capable of helping the people during these troubled times. Who else,  
Alex, could I leave Paradigm in their hands?"

There was another long pause, the silence drifting slowly like sand in and  
hourglass.

"Then why did you change things for Vera Rhondstat?"

It was possibly the most difficult question she'd faced since the event.  
Angel chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, searching for the right answer.

"Vera... chose to end her own life. She isn't... she needs more time. I  
wish there was more I could do for her, but I know she'll be able to sort  
it all out for herself. And the Union needed guidance. The people outside  
of the domes can't be forsaken any longer. I won't allow it." For a moment  
her eyes focused on the shadow looming behind Alex, and she hoped he   
understood.

"Of course not."

"Alex, I want you to promise me something." He nodded, urging her to  
continue. "Vera wasn't really my 'mother', but... well... promise me she'll  
be cared for."

He promised.

* * *

"My, my. It looks like a naughty kitty's been into the cream."

The secretary hadn't stayed to escort her out, but after Angel left the  
office, she wasn't alone in the hallway for very long. Alan Gabriel  
sauntered towards her in a way that only he could pull off.

"Alan," she acknowledged. He was still wearing that stupid mask, which made  
it difficult for her to talk to him as a 'person'.

"How nice of you to pay a visit to the loosing team. I'm surprised you  
didn't do a victory dance in Rosewaters office."

Angel growled, biting back a rude response. How was it that he always  
managed to get things completely opposite? "You're wrong. There was no  
'game', there are no losers... you... are just _wrong_, Alan. Get it?"

"Not a game-- what is it, then?" he asked, taking a step towards her.  
"Were you trying to teach us all a lesson? Helping your little negotiator  
friend unravel the truth?"

She shook her head. "Alan, why are you with Rosewater?"

"As if it matters, pretty kitty. Why I am even alive?"

"...I thought you'd go back to the Union," she continued, choosing not to  
answer his question.

He smirked. "The Union, now under Sybil Rowans control. You sure fixed  
them."

Angel felt a muscle under her eye start twitching. "I only did what needed  
to be done."

"Oh, of course," said Alan, sarcastic mocking sympathy. He casually waived  
the mechanical hand. "That explains why you didn't fix _this_."

"It's not your body that needs fixing, it's your head. I can't do that for  
you." Then she thought of something. "Come on," she urged, turning to head  
for the elevators.

"Where are you going?"

"I want you to meet someone."

* * *

To say that Seebach was unhappy about meeting Gabriel face-to-face was an  
understatement. Alan didn't fare much better.

"Surely you must be mocking me," Seebach growled, glaring at Angel and  
pointedly refusing to look at Alan. "This is a cruel and depraved joke, oh  
Mistress of fate."

"I think you two have a lot to talk about," she offered helpfully. Neither  
of them would hear it.

"You're sadly mistaken if you think this raving maniac has anything useful  
for me."

"I would sooner disown my duity to the divine discovery of knowledge and  
truth than to share ideals with this folly of humankind and machine. You  
can not be serious in this matter."

Angel chewed on her lip again, remembering why she'd tried to avoid Seebach  
in the first place. She didn't have _time_ for this nonsense.

...but she couldn't bring herself to just abandon the two without giving  
them a firm shove in the right direction.

"Look, neither of you where able to pilot the Big Duo. Alex Rosewater need-  
ed Roger to learn how to be humble and appreciate this city of his. Roger  
Smith needed Alex to bring out the caring in protective nature within  
him."

They both stared at her.

"So?"

"If either of you want to be Duos' dominus, you have to figure out what the  
other brings out in you. If there's a sane mind between the both of you, it  
won't be too hard."

"Oh _please_," Alan spat, "that has to be the biggest _cop-out_ I've ever  
heard. Why don't you give us something useful?"

Angel smirked at him, and gave Seebach a friendly pat on the shoulder  
before heading for her car. "Sorry, that's all your getting."

She knew they'd sort things out eventually.

* * *

She was going to say goodbye to Roger last.

In a way, it would be the hardest. There was so much left that would go  
unsaid. She knew so many things that he did not understand, and he under-  
stood so many things that she did not know. She wanted to share it  
with him, to learn what he had in his mind and heart, and get the chance  
to grow close with the man she loved.

It was too late for that. Angel wanted nothing more than for Roger to find  
happiness, and she knew he'd never find it with her. So it was, the  
unexpected twist in an unscripted life.

She had no choice but to say her farewell and move on.

* * *


End file.
